The Nth Sister
by Byrdde
Summary: There always seems to be another Halliwell around when one’s needed. Where on Earth (or affiliated dimensions) do they come from?


Disclaimer:  I do not own Charmed or affiliated characters.  Any unrecognized characters are probably mine, though.

NB:  Okay, my first attempt at a Charmed fic.  Hope you enjoy…

~*~

Outside the Halliwell Manor, thunder rolled over San Francisco, carrying sheeting rain along with it.  The lamps inside the brightly lit sitting room occasionally flickered in time to the frequent lightning flashes in the sky above.

Paige looked up from her careful application of rather vivid nail polish.  "A little cliché, isn't it?" she said, wrinkling her nose.

"What's that, honey?" asked Phoebe absently, idly flipping through a magazine.

"'It was dark and stormy night…'" started Paige, doing her best Bad Movie Narrator impression.

"It's only cliché when the demon crashes through the window," pointed out Piper.  The other two shot her annoyed looks.  "Wait, never mind.  I'm not jinxing this peace and quiet."  She was quite obviously not referring to the storm besieged night.

"Four blissfully demon free days?" said Paige.  "I still say something's up."

Another, particularly violent, crash of thunder shook the old house, causing a wail to sound from the baby monitor by the couch.

"I'd better go check on Wyatt," Piper said, pushing herself to her feet and heading for the stairs.  Her sisters watched her go, sad expressions on their faces.

"I'm worried about her," Phoebe said once she was out of earshot.

"Seems like we're always worried about her these days," Paige pointed out bitterly, returning her attention to her colorful toes.

"She's having a really tough time," said Phoebe, frowning.  "We have to do what we can to keep her from overworking."

"Oh, I know," pouted Paige.  "It's just that, ever since this thing with Wyatt becoming the ultimate future of all evil, she doesn't do anything but worry about him."

"She's scared, Paige.  It's natural."

"Well, yeah.  But, really, would one evening at the spa do her any harm?  We can take care of him for that long!  It's not like we even know that Chris's telling us everything…Ah, man…"  She quickly reached for a swab to dab away the orange smear she'd made.

"I know how you feel…what was that?"  Both women turned to stare into the darkness outside the windows.  Another crash.

"That didn't sound like thunder…"

Another loud bang that sounded less like thunder than something being hit by a heavy object rang through the room.  A heavy object or…

"Energy ball!" yelled Paige, diving for cover.  Following suit, Phoebe barely managed to get on the floor in front of the couch before the window imploded.

"Not again," she groaned.  The insurance company was starting to get nosy.

A figure, rain soaked and dripping, vaulted over the back of the couch and ducked as a third energy ball of fizzling blue streaked over its head.

From her hiding place behind the armchair, Paige was able to make out what looked like a man in a dark business suit stepping through – or above, really, as he appeared to be floating several inches off the ground – the shards of glass littering the room, energy ball in hand.  He also seemed to have the head of a llama.

"RETURN," he said.

The other figure – a lightning flash revealed the features of a young girl, looking rather defiant and not nearly as frightened as might have been expected – shook her head.

"What in the – " The demon exploded into a shower of…ink?…as Piper returned from upstairs.  

"What was that about?" demanded Paige, standing and brushing herself off.

The girl, wiping water off her face, opened her mouth to speak.

"Wait," commanded Piper, coming the rest of the way down the stairs.  "Leo!"  She turned in a circle for no apparent reason.  "Leo!"

A cascade of blue formed behind her.

"Leo…Chris!  Where's Leo?"

"He's…busy," said the young man, eyeing the sisters and then the stranger.  "What's going on here?"

"We're about to find out," said Paige, turning to the girl.

She was small and there was something undefined about her.  It was as if, before she'd borne the wait of the fours' gazes she had never been looked at before.  In less than a heartbeat, her features – originally vague and somehow not precisely defined – solidified into the face of a dark-eyed girl of about eighteen.  Her long hair dripped onto the much-abused carpet as she shivered.

"Aw, poor thing," said Phoebe, grabbing a blanket off the back of a nearby chair and draping it about the girls trembling shoulders.  "Let's get you dried off."

"Don't you think we should find out who she is first?" asked Paige.

"Yeah, for all you know, she could be a demon," added Chris.

"I'm – " the girl caught herself off with a sneeze.  "I'm not a demon."  

"No offense," said Paige, crossing her arms.  "But I'm not sure we can take you at your word for that."

Shrugging, the girl held out a shaking arm.  A gash, ragged from the glass she'd been showered with, ran nearly the length of her forearm, oozing warm, red blood.  It looked human enough.

"Leo!" yelled Piper again, frustrated.

"He's not coming," said Chris, glaring at the newcomer.  "He's on business."

"Fine, we'll get you cleaned up upstairs.  Come on."  Piper took the girl's shoulder and the other two moved to follow them up the stairs.

"Wait!" called Chris.  "How do you know she's not after Wyatt?"  

Piper's face darkened, but the girl was already speaking in a soft voice, exhausted and wracked by shivers.  "I'm not.  I…need your help."

"What's your name, then?" demanded the whitelighter.

She looked him straight in the eyes.  "Peoni.  Peoni Pseudo-Halliwell." 

~*~

NB: Well, what do you think?  Little cliché, I know.  But I'd really like to hear some opinions (constructive criticisms are loved!).  Think I should keep going?


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